~ Poets Pub

Haibun Monday #7

Hi everyone! Welcome to another Haibun Monday. For the newcomers, a haibun is a piece of prose followed by a haiku or micropoetry, though there is an emphasis on haiku as the form to use in the verse after the prose. You can read the rest here. I am also reposting the article earlier written by Kanzensakura here.

I hope these concepts will help you or give you a different perspective when writing haibun.

aware — the quality of certain objects to evoke longing, sadness, or immediate sympathy. The Japanese believed some objects, especially in nature, always possess aware. Writers should try to find the aware inherent in a scene they are observing for their haibun.

fueki — the sense of some eternal truth that poets strive to convey in their works. In English, this may be understood as a theme. The theme should look to separate what is simply observed from what is significant to a general audience, what message can be derived from the observation, and capture the latter element.

fuga— true art. The Japanese strive to elevate the content of their writings to an art form and incorporate the artistic elements introduced.

fugetsu — natural scenery, which the Japanese considered essential to any form of art. They strive to find the element of nature or the natural scenery around them to weave into their haibun accounts as the anchor for their message. If the scene being considered for the haibun does not contain natural scenery, writers often introduce fugetsu through metaphoric comparisons.

kaketoba — the use of words which have double meanings. In Japanese this is very easy because most nouns also have another meaning as a verb. Examples in English include leaves: to go away/foliage; blossom: to grow up/flower; fall: take a tumble/autumn. These pivot words can act as the kireji in the haiku or the haibun.

Here are the quotes to choose from to inspire your haibun:

“Yours is the light by which my spirit’s born: – you are my sun, my moon, and all my stars.”
― E.E. Cummings

“Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this too, was a gift.”
― Mary Oliver

“At every moment of our lives, we all have one foot in a fairy tale and the other in the abyss.”
― Paulo Coelho

“Find what you love and let it kill you. Let it drain you of your all. Let it cling onto your back and weigh you down into eventual nothingness. Let it kill you and let it devour your remains.” ― Charles Bukowski

So today, I would like you all to write a haibun based on any of the quotes above. Please use the compact haibun form for this: one or two tight paragraphs with one haiku. Please note that the haiku portion must deal with nature.

If you are new or your first time, here’s how to join:

Write a compact haibun and post it to your site/blog.

Enter a link to your poem and your name by clicking Mr Linky below.

You will find links to other poets. Read and comment on other poet’s work. This is what makes this such a creative community.

Keep in mind that others may have posted after you, so do check back on the linky page for details. The prompt is open for 7 days.

Promote your work on social media. You may use the tag #dversepoets and we will share you as well.

Ha, Bjorn! I didn’t even read your Haibun until after I FINALLY wrote mine; and yes, you did choose the same quotation as I did. You are a good mind reader, but then again I have mentioned liking Mary Oliver poetry a time or two. Smiles!

Wonderful, wonderful quotes, Grace. If time allowed I would love to write to all of them. As it is, not sure what the next few days will bring. Just got some more not-so-good news about my mom’s health and I may need to go to her. If I’m not able to comment, know that I will do my best when I can. I do hope I have time to visit the beauty that all our poets will be bringing to the bar.

I’m very sorry to hear this news regarding your mother, Victoria. My thoughts of support are with you and your entire family. Yes, please do what makes you feel best, you don’t have to concern yourself with dVerse right now. Hugs…my friend.

Happy Haibun Monday to everyone. A double thank you Grace – thak you for these incredible quotes and thank you for the compliment of using my post on haibun. You have no idea how that makes me smile. I will post mine and read as much as I can before my computer acts up again. Right now it is fine. I did some cleaning on its innards but …. icy and brutally cold here. Reading haibun by a roaring fire is a most excellent use of time.

Oh so cold! It is interesting how so far, we have chosen the same quote and yet, so different are the haibun. I am truly honored you would use the pointers. I am currently reading through Basho’s Narrow Road (or sometimes translated, North-west Road) for the sheer pleasure of reading “original” haibun. He has adventures, meditative times, beautiful times….and always, that incredible haiku at the end of a section. Nice to do by a fire but alas, my husband has nodded off because it bores him…smiles.

Wonderful choice of quotations, Grace. And of course, I used Mary Oliver’s for a springboard. I do so love her work.
It was “chilly” here in Bermuda today. High was only 63….of course that is quite wonderful in comparison to a high of 6 in Boston! 🙂 Stay warm all of you in the deepfreeze. Mosey up to the pub for a hot toddy! 🙂 Or at the very least, some haibuns in the oven! 🙂 Happy Monday, everyone.
lillian

From what I’ve read so far, seems like everyone is choosing Mary Oliver’s quote, so I will have to choose something different, just to be a little contrary! Really enjoying the various takes on it, though.